ANGE’S AUSSIE GLORY
Ange Postecoglou’s J1 League title with Yokohama F. Marinos is one of the greatest international coaching achievements by an Australian.

Eddie Jones made the World Cup final with England but never claimed rugby union’s prize, Darren Cahill led Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt and Simona Halop to grand slams, while Trevor Bayliss won the one-day cricket World Cup with England.

Tony Popovic’s 2014 Asian Champions League triumph with Western Sydney Wanderers was extraordinary, but Postecoglou’s 2019 J1-League title is top of the football pops.

Japan is the No. 1 league in the rapidly growing Asian continent, in the world’s most competitive sport.

Postecoglou remains underrated in Australia, though perceptions will change if fans eventually get to hear his superb Socceroos speeches and meticulous planning in the documentary “The Hard Road”, which was scuppered by red tape in the lead up to the 2018 World Cup.

The film makers are hopeful it can still see the light of day.

SCRAP THE CAP
Yokohama F Marinos is the latest example that can be added to the pro scrapping the A-League salary cap argument.

F. Marinos operates on the 10th biggest budget in the J1 League.

Postecoglou’s team won the league in style, headlined by the 3-0 win over FC Tokyo with 10 men.

F. Marinos dominated its opponents for the most part, finishing six points clear of FC Tokyo with a superior goal difference of 13 and scoring a league high 68 goals.

Former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has written another chapter in his decorated coaching career by guiding Yokohama F Marinos to the Japanese J-League championship.

Key points:
Ange Postecoglou has become the first Australian to manage a club to a J-League title victory
Postecoglou's Yokohama F Marinos defeated FC Tokyo 3-0 in their final match to clinch the championship
The win adds to the Asian Cup, A-League and NSL titles Postecoglou has won as a coach
Postecoglou became the first Australian manager to achieve the feat, with his team breaking a 15-year J-League title drought by comfortably beating FC Tokyo 3-0 in their final-round match in Yokohama.

Yokohama F Marinos only needed to avoid a four-goal loss to clinch the championship and they sealed the deal with goals to Theerathon Bunmathan, Erika Lima and Keita Endo.

The victory, secured despite going down to 10 men in the second half, means Yokohama F Marinos finished six points clear at the top of the league.

"We played fantastic football, the players deserve this as they have played fantastic football all year," Postecoglou said after the match.

"I'm very proud of the players, the staff and we have fantastic supporters so I am very happy for everyone."
Postecoglou has been linked with a move to Europe and has also been touted as a possible candidate to coach the Japanese national team in the future.

Despite those rumours, Postecoglou is distancing himself from any move away from Yokohama.

"I'm definitely going to be around next year for sure," he said.

"There's still stuff that I want to do here. I still think we can be better."

Postecoglou joined Yokohama F Marinos in late 2017 in the wake of his decision to step down as Socceroos coach after they secured a 2018 World Cup berth.

He took the club to 12th position in the J-League in his first season in charge and transformed the club into champions with a typically attacking and expansive style.

The now 54-year-old enjoyed success with the Socceroos, having guided the national team to its first men's Asian Cup victory in 2015, the only one they have won so far.

He was also in charge of the Socceroos when they played at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Postecoglou's career as a club coach in Australia was highlighted by several triumphs, including back-to-back A-League titles with Brisbane Roar in the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons.

He also led South Melbourne to consecutive championships (1997/98 and 1998/99) in the now-defunct National Soccer League.

gee Bomber...didn't take you as a Hawksey wannabe.....we were talking about Australia's National Team coaches....I take it that your attempt at humour/re-direction is an admission that Ange is our most successful national team coach along with our most successful club coach....

MegaBonus wrote:gee Bomber...didn't take you as a Hawksey wannabe.....we were talking about Australia's National Team coaches....I take it that your attempt at humour/re-direction is an admission that Ange is our most successful national team coach along with our most successful club coach....

Not at all. But let me be more clear.

What Ange has done for club football is brilliant. Roar, Victory and now his Japanese club side etc.

Club football allows you to implement a style, a philosophy and culture realistic to player budgets and allows you day in and day out involvement within the environment.

National team football is different. Bottom line WC qualification is minimum standard and implementing best practices with squad on hand is paramount.

Playing with "flair and attack" without plan B or C against classier opposition will get you found out - as did happen. For example, if you're up against a team like France or Brazil, sometimes, just sometimes maybe a more defensively structured approach may prove more fruitful. Is his defence he had a weak squad prior to the last WC, but that emphasises even more the care that was probably needed. We snuck in qualification and then he quit.

His stint with young Roos was a disaster.

Yes, he won an Asian Cup, although it was on home soil and it took extra time in the final to snatch it. Nevertheless, it was a good job done and we'll never know how a Rale Rasic, Guus Hiddink, Terry Venables, Frank Farina or even a Graham Arnold would have gone in the same boat, but I'd reckon at least 4 or the 5 mentioned could have and would have done the same.

I wish him well with whatever he does moving forward but really, club football is best suited to him and I dare say he probably prefers it that way too.

you diminish Ange's Asia Cup triumph because it was on home soil but lavish praise on Hiddink for doing the same thing with Korea which co-hosted the WC

and

you suggest a "what if scenario" for coaches like Rasic, Farina etc who may have been successful if we were in Asia at the time but at the same time don't afford the same logic to Ange....ie 'what if we believed in his vision and ideology of implementing the style of play that has proven successful at club level?

many countries have achieved success with their national teams but playing in a similar vain to what their clubs do......prior to freedom of movement in Europe (Bosman ruling) and globalisation (especially movement from Sth America to Europe) national teams had a distinct way of playing, usually reflecting what was happening at club level.....that's why WC's were enjoyable, cause you would see a clash of football cultures.....

MegaBonus wrote:you're gracious while delivering a backhander at the same time.....

you diminish Ange's Asia Cup triumph because it was on home soil but lavish praise on Hiddink for doing the same thing with Korea which co-hosted the WC

and

you suggest a "what if scenario" for coaches like Rasic, Farina etc who may have been successful if we were in Asia at the time but at the same time don't afford the same logic to Ange....ie 'what if we believed in his vision and ideology of implementing the style of play that has proven successful at club level?

many countries have achieved success with their national teams but playing in a similar vain to what their clubs do......prior to freedom of movement in Europe (Bosman ruling) and globalisation (especially movement from Sth America to Europe) national teams had a distinct way of playing, usually reflecting what was happening at club level.....that's why WC's were enjoyable, cause you would see a clash of football cultures.....

With all due respect, coming fourth in a World Cup is miles ahead of winning an Asian one (in my opinion). Could you imagine the hype if we ever got fourth, meaning we reached the semi-finals?

If it were just about trophies, then who was coaching all those years when we won Oceania tournaments? Yes, they mean little, or at least much "less".

Some cricketers, for example, are good at ODI's or T20's but may be crap at test cricket (or vice versa) so there can be reasons for why some performances and measurements have a degree of difference, hence why he deserves praise for his achievements but for me is not the messiah that some are painting him out to be.

MegaBonus wrote:you're gracious while delivering a backhander at the same time.....

you diminish Ange's Asia Cup triumph because it was on home soil but lavish praise on Hiddink for doing the same thing with Korea which co-hosted the WC

and

you suggest a "what if scenario" for coaches like Rasic, Farina etc who may have been successful if we were in Asia at the time but at the same time don't afford the same logic to Ange....ie 'what if we believed in his vision and ideology of implementing the style of play that has proven successful at club level?

many countries have achieved success with their national teams but playing in a similar vain to what their clubs do......prior to freedom of movement in Europe (Bosman ruling) and globalisation (especially movement from Sth America to Europe) national teams had a distinct way of playing, usually reflecting what was happening at club level.....that's why WC's were enjoyable, cause you would see a clash of football cultures.....

With all due respect, coming fourth in a World Cup is miles ahead of winning an Asian one (in my opinion). Could you imagine the hype if we ever got fourth, meaning we reached the semi-finals?

If it were just about trophies, then who was coaching all those years when we won Oceania tournaments? Yes, they mean little, or at least much "less".

Some cricketers, for example, are good at ODI's or T20's but may be crap at test cricket (or vice versa) so there can be reasons for why some performances and measurements have a degree of difference, hence why he deserves praise for his achievements but for me is not the messiah that some are painting him out to be.

MegaBonus wrote:you're gracious while delivering a backhander at the same time.....

you diminish Ange's Asia Cup triumph because it was on home soil but lavish praise on Hiddink for doing the same thing with Korea which co-hosted the WC

and

you suggest a "what if scenario" for coaches like Rasic, Farina etc who may have been successful if we were in Asia at the time but at the same time don't afford the same logic to Ange....ie 'what if we believed in his vision and ideology of implementing the style of play that has proven successful at club level?

many countries have achieved success with their national teams but playing in a similar vain to what their clubs do......prior to freedom of movement in Europe (Bosman ruling) and globalisation (especially movement from Sth America to Europe) national teams had a distinct way of playing, usually reflecting what was happening at club level.....that's why WC's were enjoyable, cause you would see a clash of football cultures.....

With all due respect, coming fourth in a World Cup is miles ahead of winning an Asian one (in my opinion). Could you imagine the hype if we ever got fourth, meaning we reached the semi-finals?

If it were just about trophies, then who was coaching all those years when we won Oceania tournaments? Yes, they mean little, or at least much "less".

Some cricketers, for example, are good at ODI's or T20's but may be crap at test cricket (or vice versa) so there can be reasons for why some performances and measurements have a degree of difference, hence why he deserves praise for his achievements but for me is not the messiah that some are painting him out to be.

Bomber wrote:
With all due respect, coming fourth in a World Cup is miles ahead of winning an Asian one (in my opinion). Could you imagine the hype if we ever got fourth, meaning we reached the semi-finals?

If it were just about trophies, then who was coaching all those years when we won Oceania tournaments? Yes, they mean little, or at least much "less".

Some cricketers, for example, are good at ODI's or T20's but may be crap at test cricket (or vice versa) so there can be reasons for why some performances and measurements have a degree of difference, hence why he deserves praise for his achievements but for me is not the messiah that some are painting him out to be.

Theirs only 1 Messiah, and his name is Not Angelo!

You're right there. All hail Jurgen!!

Oh dear, you have no idea what a messiah is, I really feel sorry for you.